Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Along many of Zambia's rivers are riverine forests. Tourists will see a lot of this type of
landscape as national park camps are often built on riverbanks, under the shade of huge
trees such as ebony, winter-thorn and the unmistakable 'sausage tree' (
Kigelia africana
).
Evergreen forest, the 'jungle' of Tarzan films, is found only in isolated pockets in
northwest Zambia - a remnant of the larger forests over the border in Angola and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
National Parks
Zambia boasts 20 national parks and reserves (and 34 Game Management Areas or
GMAs), and some 30% of the land is protected, but after decades of poaching, clearing
and general bad management, many are just lines on the map that no longer protect (or
even contain) much wildlife. However, some national parks accommodate extremely
healthy stocks of wildlife and are among the best in Southern Africa. Privately funded
conservation organisations have done much to rehabilitate the condition of some of these.
Admission fees to the parks vary. Each ticket is valid for 24 hours from the time you
enter the park, but if you're staying inside the park at official accommodation, this admis-
sion fee is valid for seven days.
ZAMBIA'S MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL PARKS
PARK
SIZE
FEATURES
ACTIVITIES
BEST
TIME TO
VISIT
Bangweulu
Wetlands
9800
sq km
floodplain; black lechwes, shoebills, waterbirds
walking, canoe trips,
birdwatching
Dec-Mar
Kafue Na-
tional Park
22,400
sq km
miombo
woodland, open grasslands, Kafue River; red
lechwes, leopards, cheetahs, lions
game drives, bird-
watching, fishing
May-Oct
Kasanka Na-
tional Park
390 sq
km
woodlands, plains, rivers, swamps; sitatungas, wattled
cranes, hippos, blue monkeys, bats (migration Oct-Dec)
boat trips, walking,
game drives
Jul-Nov
Liuwa Plain
National Park
3,662
sq km
vast grasslands, islands of palm trees, wildebeest migra-
tion (Nov), zebra, wild dogs, hyena
walking safaris, bird-
watching
Jun-Dec
